Hello Blog Group. I guess this is goodbye (tears).

Wow. So...I CAN'T BELIEVE this is my last blog. I mean seriously, it's been a wild and crazy ride. I have learned copious, abundant, bountiful, profuse amounts in this class over the course of the semester, and I'm totally more confident in myself as a writer and researcher. Really––that's not just a nice thing to say in parting. It's what I believe.

My conference presentation went well. It could have gone better. But I am at peace with whatever grade I receive for it, and for the class. Now, that is not to say I wouldn't have done a few things differently. It's pretty easy to pass around the lie of "no regrets," but everyone has stuff they would change in their life when they look back, even those people who get "No Regrets" tattooed on their bicep like my roommate :) So, I'm going to share a couple things I would have changed about my conference presentation and the research process leading up to it:

First and definitely foremost, I would have procrastinated less during the first half of the semester. Waiting till the last minute and nearly killing myself to squeeze and get things in on time has been (pardon the cliché...wow, I sound like Pam on The Office) the story of my life. But I really turned it around, for the most part, down the home stretch. And that is probably the first time I've really been on top of my sh...business going into finals. Yay me. Actually, yay you, too; I'm so glad the class had the layout it did, because the accountability and feedback from classmates and teacher was invaluable.

Second: in retrospect, I probably could have diversified my research methods a bit more. Looking at books and J-STOR, and coasting off of Jill Newby’s awesomeness were great. But I wanted to use more methods, including some kind of quantitative study, especially after seeing other people’s presentations. And yes, this is more difficult with my artifact and the project I undertook, but it was still a possibility. I would like to have interviewed some kind of Twain scholar here at the university, or at least someone who is as big a fan as I am. Also, I think I could have done some kind of survey of peers regarding celebrity and Mark Twain. I might have even been able to look at some old newspaper archives too or something to find what everyday people were saying about the autobiography when it came out, instead of just taking scholars‘ words for it that the work was not well-received when it came out.

Third, I would have timed out and better-prepared my presentation. I got a little too loosey-goosey with the first 3/4 of the talk, and the ending really suffered. I was so frazzled that I couldn’t even answer Kara’s question––a question which I totally had a better answer for. And I apologize.

Fourth, I would have paid more attention to all the class’s presentations via blogs, because they were so FREAKING cool and I didn’t pop my head out of my own little project-shell to realize this until they presented (Yes, Becca. You can say “I told you so”). I was blown away by how creative and thought-provoking they were. I kind of feel like mine sucked in comparison, at least on the level of coolness. That is why next time Crown Jewel Robusto cigars are definitely a go.

That’s all I can think of right now that I would have changed––or at least the extent I will choose to share with you, as the author of this blog and the ultimate authority of memories and truth within it. Thank you for a great semester and I hope to hang out with you again soon. God Bless.

Ben